Our empathy is very low,
Our hubris very high;
And each is kept right where it is
By its own special lie —
We do not empathize because
We’re told that we cannot:
If you’re not in a group, as such,
You’ll get told that a lot
So people balkanize, and then
Tend to their own condition,
And empathy remains unused,
Ruled out by definition
Then over here, we have the other –
Hubris, it is called:
Because with our technology
We’re smitten and enthralled
We humans have been in this place
For just a little bit;
But yet we talk about “the planet”
As if we ran it
A new imperialism reigns
But stays with our borders:
As “smarter” people hound our lives
With their quixotic orders
Yes, it’s the Age of Hubris, and
The Disunited Age;
We must discard these “truths”
If we’re to turn another page
For we can empathize with those
Whose lives are not our own;
And human arrogance is vain,
We occupy no throne
Of lofty exaltation, we
Are not the stars above;
But should form bonds of unity
And empathy
And love
